Operation Pineapple

Operation Pineapple was the name given to a standoff between the United States and North Korea over the Indian Ocean. The encounter resulted in the shootdown of a US F-14 Tomcat by the North Korean squad, who outnumbered the US squadron by two jets.

Background
In the 1980s, the United States USN was operating in the Indian Ocean to support Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War. Their enemies in the region were the Soviet Union, North Korea, and Iran, and air battles occurred several times, although covered up to avoid open warfare. On 16 May 1986, at the height of tension between Premier Kim Il-sung and President Ronald Reagan, a fleet of 5 North Korean Mig-28s equipped with Exocet missiles headed towards the US Navy fleet in the area, so the Americans scrambled jets.

Battle
The Americans sent two jets out to confront the two North Korean jets, but the Americans were astonished to find out that the North Korean force had risen to five planes in a small while. One North Korean plane fired an Exocet missile at Lieutenant Rick "Hollywood" Neven's plane, forcing him to deploy his parachute and leave the plane. Admiral Tom Jardian dispatched Pete "Maverick" Mitchell and his wingman Nick "Goose" Bradshaw to save Tom "Iceman" Kazansky from the North Koreans, who had another jet join them to form a fleet of 6 planes. Maverick nearly crashed due to flying through the jetwash of a North Korean jet, but survived; he and his wingman Bill "Cougar" Cortell were forced to return to the USS Enterprise on low fuel.